Saturday, July 19, 2008

Slam Slam - Free Your Feelings (1991)

Slam Slam was essentially Brit singer Dee C. Lee. After her years as part of Brit darlings the Style Council and some solo work (she had a hit with the song "See The Day", recently covered by Girls Aloud), Dee decided to hook up with "Dr." Robert Howard, of the successful group the Blow Monkeys. What they concocted was very similar to Dr. Robert's hit duet with Kym Mazelle, "Wait", soulful house music with a bit of acid jazz thrown in here and there. Most of the songs were written by Dee's husband and Style Council bandmate Paul Weller, so there was no doubt the hooks would be plentiful. The album is a very smooth yet danceable set. The singles "Move (Dance All Night)" and "Something Ain't Right" were minor hits in the UK and minor dance hits in North America. The more acid-jazzy "Free Your Feelings" didn't fare as well. It seems the group was a one-off, perhaps Dee's attempt at a more club-oriented sound, and for the most part it was a great success. Check out some of her solo work if you like what you hear.

I did indeed know she was a back-up singer for Wham!, but it didn't seem notable enough to bother mentioning. ;) Especially since Pepsi & Shirlie were better known as thie back-up singers. And Anonymous, never heard of any of those except Alta Dustin, which is here:

Although this album was released in 1991, it was recorded over a number of years, Move (dance All Night) was originally released in 1989. Collectors of Paul Weller, Style Council recordings often try to find this album, because apart from writing most of the tracks he features on most of them (Backing vocals, guitar, etc), as does Mick Talbot. Some of the tracks were played at The Style Council's final concert in June 1989, and are essentually Style Council tracks.

I'm a lifelong Weller/Jam/Style Council fan and am very happy to find this. It's amazing where music will lead you. I was a rock fan as a teenager, but the Jam and Style Council led me back to Motown and '70s soul which, in turn, led me to then-current dance music. So finding this sort of bring it full circle. Thanks for the music.

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